Fentanyl overdose deaths in ‘steep decline’ years before GP prescribing crackdown
Deaths peaked in 2015, Melbourne researchers say
Deaths from fentanyl overdoses in Australia were in steep decline well before the TGA and PBS clamped down on GP prescriptions, new research reveals.
A study of coronial data covering 833 fatal fentanyl overdoses found the death rate per 100,000 Australians peaked at 0.55 in 2015 and then fell by roughly 25% each year, to just 0.16 by 2020.
